Interventional cardiology procedures often include inserting guidewires or other instruments through catheters into coronary arteries that branch off from the aorta. For the purposes of this application, the term “interventional cardiology devices” is to be understood to include but not be limited to guidewires, balloon catheters, stents and stent catheters. In coronary artery disease the coronary arteries may be narrowed or occluded by atherosclerotic plaques or other lesions. These lesions may totally obstruct the lumen of the artery or may dramatically narrow the lumen of the artery. Narrowing is referred to as stenosis. In order to diagnose and treat obstructive coronary artery disease it is commonly necessary to pass a guidewire or other instruments through and beyond the occlusion or stenosis of the coronary artery.
In treating a stenosis, a guide catheter is inserted through the aorta and into the ostium of the coronary artery. This is sometimes accomplished with the aid of a guidewire. A guide catheter is typically seated into the opening or ostium of the artery to be treated and a guidewire or other instrument is passed through the lumen of the guide catheter and inserted into the artery beyond the occlusion or stenosis. Crossing tough lesions can create enough backward force to dislodge the guide catheter from the ostium of the artery being treated. This can make it difficult or impossible for the interventional cardiologist to treat certain forms of coronary artery disease.
Prior attempts to provide support to the guiding catheter to prevent backward dislodgement from the coronary ostium (referred to as “backup support”) fall generally into four categories.
First are guiding catheters that, through a combination of shape and stiffness, are configured to draw backup support from engaging the wall of the aortic arch opposing the ostium of the coronary artery that is being accessed. Examples of this approach can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,195 issued to Voda and U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,263 issued to Dang et al. These guiding catheters all share the common limitation that a guide catheter stiff enough to provide adequate backup support is often too stiff to be safely inserted into the aorta without the possibility of causing damage to the aortic wall. In addition, attempts to deep seat the guide catheter have been made but the rigid nature of the guide catheter creates the risk that the guide catheter may damage the coronary artery wall or that the guide catheter may occlude the coronary artery and interfere with blood flow to the heart muscle.
Second are guiding catheters that include a retractable appendage. The appendage in these catheters can be extended to engage the opposing wall of the aortic arch to provide backup support or the appendage may be placed under tension to stiffen a bend in the catheter to provide backup support. Examples of this approach may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,930 issued to Elliot; U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,412 issued to Shiu; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,876 issued to Chen. These guiding catheters tend to be somewhat mechanically complex and have not been widely adopted by practitioners.
Third are guide catheters that have a portion that seeks to expand laterally to grip the interior wall of the ostium of the coronary artery to provide a force acting in opposition to the backward forces created when trying to maneuver a therapeutic device past a lesion or blockage in the coronary artery. These devices can include a balloon secured to a guidewire or a catheter or another device for expanding to grip the walls of the coronary artery from within. Examples of this approach may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,028 issued to Patel; U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,952 issued to Forsberg; and U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0182437 by Bonnette et al. Again, these devices tend to be mechanically complex and can completely occlude the coronary ostium thus stopping perfusion of the coronary artery.
A fourth technique includes the placement of a smaller guide catheter within a larger guide catheter in order to provide added support for the crossing of lesions or for the distal delivery of balloons and stents. This technique has been described in an article by Takahashi entitled “New Method to Increase a Backup Support of Six French Guiding Coronary Catheter,” published in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, 63:452-456 (2004). This technique is used in order to provide a method of deep seating the guide catheter within the ostium of the coronary artery. Deep seating refers to inserting the catheter more deeply into the ostium of the coronary artery than typically has been done before. Unfortunately, deep seating by this technique with a commonly available guide catheter creates the risk that the relatively stiff, fixed curve, guide catheter will damage the coronary artery. This damage may lead to dissection of the coronary artery when the catheter is advanced past the ostium.
Several other problems arise when using a standard guide catheter in this catheter-in-a-catheter fashion. First, the inner catheters must be substantially longer than the one hundred centimeter guide catheter. Second, a new hemostasis valve must be placed on the inner guide catheter which prevents the larger guide catheter from being used for contrast injections or pressure measurements. Third, the smaller guide catheter still must be inserted into the coronary vessel with great care since the smaller guide catheter has no tapered transition or dilator at its tip and does not run over a standard 0.014 inch guidewire.
Thus, the interventional cardiology art would benefit from the availability of a system that would be deliverable through standard guide catheters for providing backup support by providing the ability to effectively create deep seating in the ostium of the coronary artery.